The Santa Barbara killings

Is there anything that can be said about the 22-year-old who killed six people–stabbing three, then shooting three more before killing himself–in Santa Barbara? Elliott Rodger, the affluent son of the assistant director of the Hunger Games, gave his reasons in a 171-page manifesto and a series of YouTube videos, but his motive comes down to his frustration that no women would have sex with him.

My impression is that this mass murder has to do with some unique pathologies of pop culture–a child of Hollywood who wanted to be a star, whose life was mostly in the media, and who was outraged that the easy sex of the movies wasn’t so easy for him.

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.